LOCAL NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Iodised salt use not yet common in remote areas

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 3: A person needs only about one tablespoonful of iodine during his lifetime, if he lives up to 80 years of age. But a deficiency of even this minute amount has resulted in severe physical and mental deformities as well as disabilities among the Nepali people.

Iodine deficiency causes miscarriages, cretinism, mental retardation, dwarfism, deafness and dumbness, sterility and others. The most visible sign is the goitre, a condition where the thyroid gland becomes swollen mainly due to a lack of iodine.

The best way to meet the requirement of iodine is through the intake of iodised salt. The report 2000 prepared by the Ministry of Health says 91 per cent of the total population now have access to iodised salt, an improvement from 83 per cent in 1998. The Salt Trading Corporation (STC), the public enterprise responsible for distributing salt in the country, plans to make iodised salt available to 95 per cent of the population soon.

Although more than 90 per cent of the Nepalese people have access to iodised salt, only about 63 per cent regularly use it, which comes in plastic pouches. Many people in the rural areas still go for the common salt, which is not iodised.

Chief of the Nutrition Section at the Child Health Division of the Health Ministry, Sharada Pandey, said that packaged iodised salt constitutes only 25 per cent of the total salt supplied and consumed in the market. Even in districts like Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, the actual use of iodised salt does not exceed 80 per cent, she said.

In many outlying areas near the border, the unauthorised entry of non-iodised salt from across India is a major problem. But the major problem is the lack of awareness among the people. The report points out that people in the remote areas are not aware about the need and importance of iodised salt and, thus, suffer from various ailments related to iodine deficiency. To generate awareness about the importance of iodine in one's diet, Nepal has been celebrating October as 'Iodine month' since 1995.
Executive Chief of STC Parmeshor Mahasheth, while speaking at a programme today to mark World Iodine Month, said that the Corporation has set up an iodine-mixing plant at Tatopani along the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Similar plants are coming up in Jumla and Mugu in western Nepal. He said that there were also plans to launch iodised salt mixed with calcium and magnesium for the patients of high blood pressure.

STC has offices in 68 of the country's 75 districts. The STC is facing problems supplying iodised salt to all the rural areas due to the security problem.

At the programme, Minister of State for Health Mohan Bahadur Basnet launched a new product of the STC 'Super IoNun' and distributed prizes to 101 individuals and organisations, who helped in the distribution of iodised salt last year.

Minister Basnet said that the corporation should have a multi-sectoral approach to achieving the target of providing basic health services to all the people. "In this regard the government has given top priority to public health," he said. The iodisation programme has been launched in 117 countries around the world.

Other Stories